Construction of hegemonic masculinity: Violence against wives in Bangladesh

Abstract

Synopsis This study uses newspaper data to examine how violent men of Bangladesh validate their identity as men through their acts of violence. Prior research on violence against women in Bangladesh was based on economically disadvantaged wives in rural areas or megacities. Systematic applications of Butler's (1990) gender performativity theory and Connell's (1995) hegemonic masculinity idea to empirical data on violence against women in Bangladesh are rare. By applying these frameworks, I find that in a society that promotes violence against women violent men can use such acts as the most honorable way of being men. I explain that hegemonic gender norms relate to wife abuse, and suggest that the intersection of gender and age has seemingly had profound effects on violence against women, independent of other structural inequalities.